Abstract

The sixty-two species of precinctive (reported from the state and from nowhere else) beetles known from Rhode Island, and originally described by Thomas L. Casey, are reviewed. These 62 are reduced to 12 potential candidates, with a further 12 unrevised species awaiting investigation. In terms of the Rhode Island Coleoptera fauna, the present re-evaluation decreases the number of beetles known from the state by 12 to 2,243 species. This information is briefly presented in the context of T.L. Casey’s contribution to our knowledge of the North American (and specifically Rhode Island) beetle fauna and the strengths and weaknesses of his taxonomic approach. The utility of distributional checklists, such as the one of the Rhode Island beetle fauna, are discussed. The resolution of taxonomic problems is of central importance to many spheres of biological investigation and accurate distributional checklists are vital in this process. Such checklists are useful in the context of determining biodiversity and environmental monitoring and for many practical purposes such as assisting in identification and highlighting gaps in distribution. Furthermore, data from such checklists also have utility in a variety of zoogeographic investigations, such as contributing to an understanding of latitudinal gradients in species diversity and the geographic basis for proportionate faunal composition. All these are compelling arguments for developing and maintaining such resources.

Addeddate

2025-03-13 19:58:19

Bhl_virtual_titleid

210914

Bhl_virtual_volume

v.22 (2009)

Call number

10_3897_zookeys_22_93

Call-number

10_3897_zookeys_22_93

Foldoutcount

0

Genre

article

Identifier

thomaslcaseyrho22majk

Identifier-ark

ark:/13960/s2z02g9rpfh

Identifier-bib

10_3897_zookeys_22_93

Identifier-doi

10.3897/zookeys.22.93

Ocr

tesseract 5.3.0-6-g76ae

Ocr_detected_lang

en

Ocr_detected_lang_conf

1.0000

Ocr_detected_script

Latin

Ocr_detected_script_conf

1.0000

Ocr_module_version

0.0.21

Ocr_parameters

-l eng

Page_number_confidence

76

Page_number_module_version

1.0.5

Page_range

267-283

Pages

18

Pdf_degraded

invalid-jp2-headers

Pdf_module_version

0.0.25

Possible copyright status

In copyright. Digitized with the permission of the rights holder.

Ppi

300

Source

ZooKeys 22

Year

2009

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